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Reporting on the Middle East, Science, and Education for May 31, 2010 - י"ח סיון תש"ע
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Like the bogus Jenin massacre, this episode will be used as just another stick to beat the Jewish state — even by those same pundits and activists who can’t be roused to say a single word when genuine “massacres” unfold in other parts of the world
By Jonathan Kay, National Post, May 31, 2010 – 11:58 am
See Video: http://www.youtube.com/user/idfnadesk
If Israel truly had wanted to “massacre” the Hamas sympathizers and fellow travellers aboard a six-ship Gaza-bound flotilla, the operation would not have been complicated. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) would have used the trusty North Korean solution: Torpedo the ships and watch them sink to the bottom of the sea. That’s certainly what Hamas would have done to a boatload of Jews, if it got the chance.
Even Israel arguably would have been within its rights to seize and destroy a ship being sent toward Gazan waters in defiance of an international embargo, especially after giving abundant warnings to the leaders of the largely Turkish-based Free Gaza Movement, which had sent the flotilla, that they would not be permitted to sail to Hamas-controlled territory.
But that’s not how Israel operates. Instead, it sent commandos to seize control of the ships and bring them safely to Israeli waters. Israeli officials had even prepared air-conditioned accommodations for the activists, and had made arrangements to deliver legitimate aid supplies to Gaza.
According to the IDF, not all of the activists on board the ships were the pacifists they claimed to be. Though the Free Gaza leaders said they would not resist Israeli enforcement of the embargo, some of them fought the Israeli boarding parties with iron clubs — as confirmed by video that has been made available to the media. More seriously, it is claimed that at least one of the activists took two handguns from the Israelis and fired at the soldiers. In the melee, at least 10 activists were believed to have been killed, and several Israeli commandos wounded. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on May 31, 2010 - י"ח סיון תש"ע at 12:19 pm
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Israel tows Gaza flotilla to Ashdod after at least 10 activists killed in clashes with navy; IDF says 2 commandos seriously wounded as troops tried to board.
The left-wing activists on board a flotilla carrying aid to the Gaza Strip tried to lynch the Israel Navy commandos who stormed their Turkish-flagged ship early Monday, Israel Defense Forces sources told Haaretz.
The commandos, who intercepted the Turkish ferry Mavi Marmara after it ignored orders to turn back, said they encountered violent resistance from activists armed with sticks and knives. According to the soldiers, the activists threw one of their comrades from the upper deck to the lower after they boarded.
An Israeli military spokesman said some of the commandos were equipped with paintball guns but the non-lethal weapons were not enough against activists who charged in with batons.
“They had pistols with live ammunition as back-up, to defend themselves,” he said.
One of the commandos told reporters he descended by rope from a helicopter onto one of the six ships in the convoy and was immediately attacked by a group of people waiting for them.
“They beat us with metal sticks and knives,” he said. “There was live fire at some point against us.”
A Reuters cameraman on the Israeli navy ship Kidon close to the six-vessel aid convoy said commanders monitoring the operation were surprised by the strong resistance put up by the pro-Palestinian activists.
One of the commandos said some of the soldiers were stripped of their helmets and equipment and a number were tossed from the top deck to a lower deck and then leapt into the sea to save themselves. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts on May 31, 2010 - י"ח סיון תש"ע at 11:06 am
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By DANIEL GORDIS, Jerusalem Post, May 28, 2010
Instead of trying to convince ourselves that it’s not really raining and that there are only a few clouds in the sky, we should be asking a few basic questions on the relationship between Israel and young American Jews
In October 1994, several days after kidnapped IDF soldier Nachshon Wachsman was killed in a failed attempt to save him from his terrorist captors, I was scheduled to teach my weekly graduate seminar at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. But given the horror of what had just transpired, I couldn’t even imagine simply teaching as planned. I no longer recall what had been scheduled for that day. But what I do remember is that I decided to scrap the usual fare and that I taught a text in memory of Wachsman.
As the seminar drew to a close, it was obviously quiet in the room. But just as the students were preparing to disperse, one looked at me and asked, “What does any of this have to do with us?”
More than 15 years later, I can still picture that moment, frozen in time. I remember exactly where she was sitting. I recall the looks of discomfort on the faces of some of the other students, but the nods of agreement with her question from others. And I remember that I had no idea what to say.
And I remember feeling unbearably lonely and wholly out of place. Lonely because it was clear that she was not the only one wondering why in the world we were thinking about Nachshon Wachsman, when my own heart was breaking, and out of place because I had no idea how to engage those students in a conversation about why he mattered to me. I didn’t know where to begin.
What I didn’t know then, of course, was that a question that seemed to me an aberration would soon become the norm. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Education, Judaism, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on May 29, 2010 - ט"ז סיון תש"ע at 10:29 pm
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By Israel Zwick, CN Publications, May 28, 2010
http://cnpublications.net/category/zwicks-picks/
According to Google News, there are thousands of articles about the Palestinian boycott of products made in the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria. The issue is gaining in prominence and its potential for increasing friction between Jews and Arabs in Israel and in the liberated Jewish territories. Palestinian leaders Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad have been personally involved in promoting the boycott, destroying millions of dollars of goods produced in the Jewish settlements, imposing steep fines on Palestinian merchants who sell these goods, and forbidding 25,000 Palestinian workers to continue their employment in Jewish industries.
Understandably, Israeli leaders have become increasingly concerned. Israeli businesses could lose hundreds of millions of dollars if the boycott spreads in intensity and geography. Some businesses have already been forced to close. Israeli leaders have termed the boycott, “economic terrorism” and a “declaration of war.” While the boycott is ostensibly damaging to the settler enterprise, it could actually develop into a boon for the settler movement while undermining the position of the Arabs in Judea and Samaria. In the long term, the boycott could actually increase the strength and vitality of the settlements in the liberated Jewish territories.
Before explaining the reasons for this unusual claim, I would like to emphasize that I am a strong proponent of harmonious coexistence in multi-ethnic populations. I live in Flushing, NY, which has been cited as the most multi-ethnic neighborhood in the entire United States. When I moved into the neighborhood about 35 years ago, my neighbors were mostly a mixture of Orthodox and Conservative Jews. About 20 years ago, large numbers of Asians mostly from Taiwan and Korea began to move in while young Jewish families were moving out. Relations with the Asians have been amicable. They work hard, maintain their property, support the public schools, and make an effort to be friendly. As the cute, little children pass by on their way to school, they wave and say, “Hi.”
More recently, there has been an increasing influx of Muslims, mostly from Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh. We see more stores with Arabic writing selling Halal meat and more people with the distinctive Muslim clothing. Several small mosques have opened in the area. To date, there has been no friction with the Muslim immigrants. Jews, Asians, and Muslims shop in the same stores, and walk the same streets without incident. A stroll through the local Queens Botanical Gardens on a Sunday afternoon reveals multiple ethnic groups of all colors and conveys the impression that perhaps a UN convention is being held there. I look around and can’t help thinking how nice it would be if this harmonious coexistence could be transplanted to Judea and Samaria. I was hoping that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s plan for “economic peace” in the territories would inaugurate a new era of mutual cooperation in the territories. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Business and Commerce, Judaism, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts, Zwick's Picks on May 28, 2010 - ט"ו סיון תש"ע at 7:04 pm
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by Steve Walz, Contributing Writer, Jewish Journal, May 28, 2010
From rockin’ with Elton John in trendy metro Tel Aviv to discovering the secrets of Mediterranean olive oil in the Holy City of Jerusalem, Israel is a summertime mecca of culturally scintillating attractions for tourists who are looking for fun, sun and adventure.
Israel’s resilient tourism industry, which has bounced back from the negative effects of the global economic downturn in 2009, is on the verge of a record-breaking 2010 tourist season. Accordingig
to Israel’s Ministry of Tourism, incoming tourism figures for 2010 are already ahead of 2008, when the country welcomed 3 million tourists (the original all-time record). Even Iceland’s menacing volcanic ash cloud, which wreaked havoc on European travel in April and May, did not have a deleterious effect on incoming tourism to Israel.
Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov revealed that income from foreign tourism in the first quarter of 2010 reached $695 million.
“The constant growth in incoming tourism sharpens the contribution to the Israeli economy, which means a significant increase in the number of direct and indirect jobs associated with the tourism industry.
There are now 90,000 people employed in the local tourism industry,” he added.
During the forthcoming summer and fall seasons, the Tourism Ministry will be investing an additional $10 million in various advertising campaigns, in order to lure new and veteran tourists to the Holy Land.
While there are hundreds of attractions to choose from on the ministry’s goisrael.com Web site, we’ve created a compact list of venues intended to pique your interest. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Business and Commerce, Fun Stuff, Middle East Report, Recent Posts on May 28, 2010 - ט"ו סיון תש"ע at 4:49 pm
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Jacob Dayan, Los Angeles Times, May 27, 2010
The Jewish state of Israel is a diverse nation that has absorbed people from more than 140 countries. Among its population are about 1.5 million Arabs, including Israeli Knesset member Ahmad Tibi, who in a May 23 Times interview lashed out at Israel, using inflammatory words like “racist” and “fascist.” As is his style, Tibi failed to back up his white-hot rhetoric with hard facts.
In 1947, Arab leaders rejected a United Nations resolution to form an Arab state alongside a Jewish one. This caused the displacement of some 600,000 Palestinian refugees. From that point forward, Arab nations have denied these Palestinians and their descendants citizenship and basic civil rights, including the right to own property, get an education or take out loans — rights held by Israeli Arabs.
Arab Israelis, who make up about 20% of the nation’s population, enjoy equal rights, government representation and protection in Israel. They live freely in all parts of Israel, can use all public facilities, attend Israel’s top universities and are contributing members of society. By no means is Israel the epitome of perfection, but we do aspire for equality for all our citizens. According to the Abraham Fund Initiative, since Israel’s establishment in 1948, the number of schools in the Arab Israeli school system increased by more than fifteenfold; Hebrew schools grew by only five times. The number of classes offered in the Arab Israeli system increased more than seventeenfold, and since 1961 the literacy rate of Arab Israelis jumped from 49.6% to 90%, a clear indication of the educational opportunities offered to all our citizens.
Not only are Arabs treated equally as individual citizens, but their minority status is also recognized in some aspects by the government, with Arabic being an official language in Israel (alongside Hebrew) and Israeli Muslims having their own jurisdiction on religious issues (Sharia law) pertaining to members of their community, just like Jewish religious law at the Rabbinical courts. Additionally, Arab Israelis are citizens with full voting rights and can serve as elected members of the Knesset, as lawmaker Tibi does. It is true that Arab Israelis hold about 10% of the Knesset seats, a number that is disproportionate to their population. Perhaps this is because Arab Israelis are opting instead to vote for non-Arab parties or exercising their democratic right not to vote at all. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Judaism, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on May 27, 2010 - י"ד סיון תש"ע at 10:24 pm
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by Gil Ronen
(Israelnationalnews.com) The freeze imposed by the Israeli government on construction for Jews in Judea and Samaria has had an unforeseen effect: it has raised Jewish demand for housing in northern Jerusalem, thus raising prices there and blocking the Arab influx to these neighborhoods. So said Aryeh King, who heads the Israel Lands Fund and is a prominent activist for strengthening the Jewish hold on Jerusalem.
King referred specifically to the neighborhoods of Pisgat Ze’ev, Neveh Yaakov and French Hill.
“The peak period of Arab influx into these neighborhoods was one and a half or two years ago, when [then-Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert wanted to divide the city and build a wall inside it,” King told Arutz Sheva‘s Hebrew newsmagazine Wednesday.
At that time, he explained, many of the Arabs who live beyond the wall made an effort to buy apartments on the ‘Israeli’ side of the wall so as not to be left out of Israel in case of a partition agreement. “Today, there is a problem because there is a problem throughout Jerusalem: we have a mayor who won’t let [Jewish] people build. As a result there are many more Jews who want to buy or rent for every Jewish-owned apartment. As a result less and less of these apartments are being sold to Arabs because there is more Jewish demand… the demand is the same but the supply is much smaller.”
In French Hill, he said, the Arab presence has even begun to dwindle – with Jews filling the Arabs’ places. The neighborhood is becoming more religious, he said, and many of the people moving in are immigrants from anglophone countries. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Judaism, Middle East Report, News Articles, Recent Posts on May 26, 2010 - י"ג סיון תש"ע at 9:09 pm
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By JOEL BRINKLEY, Providence Journal, May 24, 2010
A new poll of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza provides a startling conclusion: Fully one-third of the population no longer wants a separate state of their own. No, these Palestinians now say they want to live in one state alongside the Israelis, in what they call a bi-national country.
The number of Palestinians calling for this has increased by 60 percent since the last poll was taken 10 months ago. Israel is not likely to accept a solution like this, afraid of what might happen if Palestinians eventually outnumbered Jews. But that’s not the point here.
When I left Israel almost 20 years ago after my first assignment there, lots of people asked me: When will Israel and the Palestinians reach a peace agreement?
My answer then: Not in my lifetime.
Now the United States is conducting what it calls “proximity talks.” Special envoy George Mitchell is shuttling from Jerusalem to Ramallah and back, carrying messages between Israeli and Palestinian leaders — the latest iteration of American-sponsored peace talks. Ask that same question about a peace agreement today, and my answer remains the same: Not in my lifetime, but for a different reason this time. Now, it’s apparent, no one really wants a peace agreement, except maybe a few officials in Washington.
If you look at the problem strategically, the “peace process” (by now, truly an oxymoronic phrase) involves four key players: Israel, the Palestinians, the Arab world and the United States. Europe and the United Nations are not significant actors. With some justification, Israel views both of them as hopelessly biased in favor of the Palestinian cause.
Why wouldn’t Israel want a peace agreement? For one thing, the state is calm and at peace right now. Israel’s “security fence,” the wall around most of the West Bank, makes it difficult for militants to cross into Israel and attack a bus, a market or a nightclub. For that reason and others, the attacks have virtually ceased. All is quiet; the state is prosperous. People ride buses again and sip cappuccinos at outdoor cafés. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on May 26, 2010 - י"ג סיון תש"ע at 11:27 am
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The real traitors are those who established another corrupt dictatorship in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and stole billions of dollars of international aid that was supposed to improve the living conditions of their people. How lucky we are that we live in Israel and not under the jurisdiction of the PLO or Hamas.
May 25, 2010 5:00 AM
by Khaled Abu Toameh, Hudson Institute
The former PLO “ambassador” to Australia, Ali Kazak, believes that an Arab journalist who writes about financial corruption and theft in the Palestinian Authority is a “traitor” who should be murdered the same way as collaborators were killed by the French Resistance.
Kazak told the newspaper, The Australian: “Khaled Abu Toameh is a traitor. Traitors were also murdered by the French Resistance, in Europe; this happens everywhere.”
Asked why he calls the journalist a traitor, the former PLO representative, who lives in Australia, explained: “Palestinians are the victims. He shouldn’t write about them, he should write about the crimes of the Israelis.”
Kazak’s threat does not come as a surprise to those who are familiar with the methods used by Arab dictatorships to silence anyone who dares to demand reforms and transparency.
The threat reminds journalists like me how lucky we are that we live in Israel and not under the jurisdiction of the PLO or Hamas. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Islam, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on May 26, 2010 - י"ג סיון תש"ע at 8:15 am
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Ali Abunimah, The Electronic Intifada, 25 May 2010
Despite the rhetoric of defiance and resistance, and exaggerated screams of anguish from Israeli settler groups, the PA effort actually appears designed to co-opt, undermine and abort the much broader Palestinian civil society campaign of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS), and to reassure Israel of the continued docility and collaboration of its puppet regime in Ramallah.
As part of his daily routine of publicity stunts, unelected Ramallah-based “Prime Minister” Salam Fayyad has been seen tossing bundles of settler-produced goods onto bonfires. As for PA “President” Mahmoud Abbas, he recently signed the “Karama” (dignity) Pledge — promising not to allow settlement goods into his house and encouraging others to do the same. PA volunteers have been going door-to-door in the occupied West Bank to distribute lists of settler-made consumer goods that should be avoided. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted by CNP Webmaster as Business and Commerce, Islam, Middle East Report, Opinion, Recent Posts on May 25, 2010 - י"ב סיון תש"ע at 5:08 pm
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